Google’s droids take on Amazon’s drones

Bots vs. blades in the great 2019 shootout to accelerate home deliveries

December 5, 2013

Prototype of future Google delivery guy? (credit: SHAFT, Inc.)

Andy Rubin, the Google executive who developed Google’s free Android software, has revealed to The New York Times he is working on a secret Google project to create a new generation of robots.

The goal: improve the efficiency of manufacturing of small electronics — now largely manual — and packing goods in warehouses, and ultimately making home deliveries — perhaps via Google-designed autonomous vehicles.

“Google has recently started experimenting with package delivery in urban areas with its Google Shopping service, and it could try to automate portions of that system,” the Times suggests.

Stephen Colbert begs to disagree: “These Amazon drones are a great idea, and guaranteed to be safe, thanks to all the drone testing we’ve done overseas. I mean, worse-case scenario, a few homes get carpet-gifted with some collateral generosity.”

Meanwhile, Rubin has acquired several robotics and AI start-up companies in the U.S. and Japan, says the paper, including these:

I really wonder, though, how long “book” will be common in our society or for that matter, how 3-d printing will fit in with what we “buy”. Perhaps food and wine companies may be the biggest winners since we cannot (yet) print our milk, Merlot or Parmesan. Most likely, a land version of this will soon appear.

Though 3D-printed wine is still probably a long way off, I see 3D-printed cheeses not so far away. The “inks” would be enzyme-cultured dry milk powders. Soon to follow will be in-vitro-grown meat powders.
Before you know it,
I can has 3D-printed cheezburger!
=^. .^=